In his last ever press conference as a Liverpool player, Steven Gerrard described his feelings towards Saturday’s late kick off against Crystal Palace, his last game at Anfield in the red shirt.
“I’m looking forward to it, I want to win the game desperately, I want to finish on a high at Anfield in front of our supporters. But there’s no getting away from it, come the end of that game, when I get my chance to say goodbye, it will be an emotional time.”
When asked about his 17 years at the club and the one trophy that has eluded him, he had this to say:
“I look back on my time here with pride, I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved here. All the trophies I’ve won and great memories I’ve had. Not winning the Premier League will certainly be a dent in that, there’s nothing I can do about it now and it’s certainly a regret I’ll go away with. But I’ve got to look at the bigger picture, growing up as a boy dreaming of playing for Liverpool just that one time and sitting here now with 708 appearances, I’ve achieved a lot more than I thought I would at the beginning. If someone would’ve said to me when I started at the academy at eight years of age when I used to get two buses to train that you’re going to play 708 games for Liverpool, you’re going to win the trophies, but you’re going to have some low moments and some high moments, I’d have said “yeah that’ll do, I’ll take that”.”
Gerrard is confident that young players will follow in his footsteps and make the step up from the academy to the first team:
“This club is well renowned for bringing talent through: Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Michael Owen, Jon Flanagan, Jordon Ibe, and Raheem Sterling. If the players are good enough and they’re prepared for it, Brendan’s shown that he’ll give them a chance and I’m sure managers in the future will as well, but they’ve got to be good enough.”
When asked about the development of players like Ibe and Sterling and their futures, he had this to say:
“I’m always going to be biased towards Liverpool. I said in the week that my advice to Raheem is that he needs a manager who believes in him, who’s going to play him and coach him and I think there’s no-one better out there than Brendan Rodgers. My opinion is that he should sign a new deal here, I think that’s what’s best for his career but that’s something I can’t control. I think the danger for these younger players is that they want it all too soon, and they chase it and become one of a number if they go to any other club where they don’t get the love, care or attention that they do here at Liverpool.”
He was also questioned about the position that he will leave the club in, and what can be done to ensure that the team progresses next campaign.
“I think every season this squad and this club always tries to add good quality players to it to challenge in the next season for what’s available, what trophies we can try and win. I think this season we fell a bit short, but I still feel that there is a fantastic core of players here with huge potential. I’m hoping that the owners will back Brendan again and bring in the bit of quality that can help us go one step further next season. We’ve come very close in a couple of cup competitions this year and we’ve also got close to the top four positions, and that’s with losing arguably the best player in the world last year in Luis Suarez and also not having our star striker available for most of the season in Daniel Sturridge. So, to come so close without those two available, I think we’ve done okay but I think next year we can go one better.”
Often portrayed as “hard man” on the pitch by the press, Gerrard was asked if spectators will be seeing a few tears on Saturday evening.
“I hope not! I haven’t got a clue what it’s going to be like at the end of the game when I get the chance to say goodbye for real. I’ve been dreading this moment in a strange way because I’m going to miss it so much, playing at Anfield, playing in front of the fans with my teammates. It will be emotional, but the plan is to try and keep it together, stay strong and try to avoid the tears.”
Gerrarrd was asked what emotions are conjures uphen people say the word “Istanbul” ?
“Still to this day the hairs on my neck stand up, it’s the best night of my life. I think it’s the pinnacle for every footballer domestically, it’s the best cup to win and the way we went about it and the way it panned out, I think it’s going to go down in history as probably the best Champions League final ever and as captain of that team there was no prouder man on the planet that night.”
The 34-year-old was then asked about a particular game, goal or moment in particular that stands out immediately, other than Istanbul.
“I think the game would be the Everton game when I got the hat trick, after all the stick I’ve had off the blue noses over the years that was a nice feeling. If you were talking about one individual goal that was so important for the team and that club, that helped us progress to that incredible night in Istanbul, it’d have to be Olympiakos. The timing of the goal and what was needed on the night. In the dressing room after, I realised that it was an important goal to help the team progress, but it wasn’t until Istanbul had calmed down a couple of weeks later when I reflected on the whole Champions League journey that I realised that the Olympiakos goal was such a huge goal.”
He went on to speak about his admiration for the supporters and also a few of the managers he’s worked with over the years:
“They’ve given me incredible support since day one and been there for me throughout this journey and, as I said earlier, I’ve had some really cruel lows and some incredible highs but their support for me has never changed. There might be a few individuals who have changed their opinion of me over the 17 years, which is fine, but I think, as a whole, at Anfield and around the world, I’ve had incredible support.”
When asked about the managers he’s worked under, Gerrard said:
“I owe an awful lot to Gerard Houllier who gave me the opportunity here, he was almost like a father figure, he put his arm round me and helped me a lot tactically, improved me a lot and I won the treble under Gerard and then he gave me the captaincy at 23 which was a very bold thing to do at a club this size, to take the captaincy off of a fantastic player in Sami Hyypia and give it to me was a very brave thing to do, so I owe an awful lot to him. I’ve enjoyed the last three years with Brendan, I almost hope that I’d met him earlier when I was in the peak of my playing days because I certainly think I’d be sitting here talking about more trophies now. Getting the chance to play for Kenny Dalglish was a wonderful experience, someone I’ve watched many tapes of and my dad’s hero as well, that was a great time. Rafa Benitez, as well, who we shared Istanbul with. Tactically he improved me so much as well so it’s difficult to pick one who I liked the most or who I thought was the best but on the whole I’ve been lucky to work with so many.”
Gerrard’s status as a Liverpool legend was a continuous theme throughout the conference. When asked whether he considers himself as one of the greats, this was his response:
“No I don’t think so. For me, I just work as hard as I can, I try to do the best I can. I’ve loved every minute of representing this club and its supporters and every single game I’ve tried to do my best. People have opinions of you and put you in certain categories, they compare you to players before or players coming through, there’s nothing you can do about that, I just try and be the best I can be.”
Finally, Gerrard had this to say about a potential return to the club in the future:
“I’ve certainly got ambitions to stay in the game. I’m currently taking out my UEFA coaching badges and trying to progress up that ladder but I think to take a position at this club first and foremost you have to be good enough, you never take a role here on reputation or name. The demands and the expectations in any role at this football club is so high, I think you’d be very stupid and naïve to take a role because you’re Steven Gerrard or because you had a good career on the pitch. So in a couple of years time, when I’ve come out of the city for a bit and I reflect and look in, if there’s a role in which I feel I can contribute and that I’m good enough for then I’ll certainly consider it because I’ve been coming to this club since I was eight years of age and I do feel as if I can contribute in some role in the future.”
